U.N.
The 200 countries participating in the U.N. COP16 summit on the protection of biodiversity-ongoing in Cali, Colombia-have approved a measure to create a permanent body to consult indigenous peoples on U.N. nature conservation decisions. The advisory body is seen as a step forward in recognizing the role indigenous peoples play in nature conservation globally.
NORTH KOREA-RUSSIA-UKRAINE
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said his country will stand by Russia until its "victory" in Ukraine. These words were spoken in Moscow after talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Neither minister mentioned Western reports about PyongYang's deployment of troops alongside Russian troops. For his part, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Li Jian asked about the matter said that North Korea and Russia "are two independent sovereign states and how to develop bilateral relations is a matter for them."
PAKISTAN
Nine people, including five girls and a boy, were killed and 29 injured in an explosion Friday in Mastung in southwest Pakistan. "The target was a police van that was on its way to pick up a team for polio vaccination," said Chief Superintendent of Police Rehmatullah. The explosion was caused by an IED attached to a motorcycle parked near a girls' school in the town of Mastung.
MIDDLE EAST-UNITED STATES
According to the latest national poll of Muslims in the Unii States released before the Nov. 5 presidential election, it is neck-and-neck in the preferences of this group of voters between Green Party candidate Jill Stein (42 percent) - who is highly critical of U.S. policy regarding the conflict in Gaza - and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris (41 percent). According to the poll released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair), Donald Trump is expected to get about 10 percent of the Muslim-American vote. A similar 2020 poll had found that 69% of Muslims voted for Joe Biden in the previous presidential election.
TAIWAN
Taiwan's Ministry of Justice announced plans to propose amendments to the Criminal Code to increase fines for illegal abortions to NT$80,000 (about 2,300 euros) from the current anachronistic NT$3,000. The fine for for-profit abortion providers would be raised to 500,000 Taiwan dollars (14,300 euros). Women in Taiwan can have abortions under a number of conditions under the "Genetic Health Law." However, the ministry said, abortions should be restricted because the fetus is "a living being that is growing into a person."
INDIA
At a hospital in Kochi, Kerala, Catholicos Baselios Thomas I, leader of the Syrian Jacobite Church, a Syriac-rite Orthodox denomination historically linked to the Patriarchate of Antioch, passed away at the age of 95. In a message of condolence, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) remembers him as "an iconic figure in the Indian Christian community" whose "tireless efforts to promote ecumenism, interreligious dialogue and social harmony have been an inspiration to people across denominational lines."
RUSSIA
Deputies of the New Men party in the Moscow Duma proposed a bill to ban all kinds of religious gatherings and prayers in apartment buildings with many apartments, to prevent the activities of any religious association or group regardless of legal registration, as "such gatherings disturb the peace of other inhabitants."
